Series Finale: The Final Charm
by CharmedXAgain
Summary: Now that all four sisters exist, old enemies have returned to destroy their Charmed power again, for good. The sisters will fight to save themselves and their family in a battle that threatens to kill them all unless they can change history.
1. Chapter 1: A Blast From The Past

Piper and opened the front door to the manor and entered, followed by her sisters.

"Okay, I think we made it. I'm sure we made it. Do you think we made it?" she asked, turning to Phoebe.

"I don't know," Prue answered closing the door behind her.

"I think he would have attacked by now if we hadn't," Phoebe said hopefully, turning to Paige for comfort who followed closely behind.

"Well we're safe now that we're at the manor." Paige said trying to remain optimistic.

"Are we?" Piper snapped, stopping by the stairway. "Paige, we're in just as much danger here as we are in the underworld. Shax is back, what don't you get about that?"

"Piper, we vanquished Shax before," Paige remarked, "it can't be that difficult to do it again. We have the spell, we have four of us this time, what can go wrong?"

"Paige, Shax the only demon that has ever truly killed the power of three. You fortunately came along just in time to reconstitute it. But now that he's back, it's a little hard not worry that one of us could be killed again. For real." Piper stared Paige directly in the eyes.

Prue walked next to Piper and put her arm around her shoulder. "Piper, it's okay. I'm here now. You aren't going to lose me again. Our Charmed power has been stronger than ever now that all four of us are together. We can handle one demon."

"Prue," Piper said turning to face her, "it's Shax. And now, we're running for our lives, because Phoebe did not give us enough time to figure it out." Piper felt as though she needed to blame someone.

"Well I didn't have a lot of time," said Phoebe. "I mean I can't control how far into the future my premonitions take place. I saw the attack, we kicked butt. What more do you want?"

"I would like to know more about who we are up against," Piper said wittily.

"What else is there to know?" Phoebe asked angrily. "Shax is a demon of wind and the Source's assassin, which is…kinda strange considering there is no Source."

"Exactly!" Piper exclaimed snapping in Phoebe's face. "He's been brought back by God knows what, he's stronger than ever, and now we're back to where we were five years ago. Figure it out."

Prue interjected. "Okay Phoebe maybe you should check the Book of Shadows. See if you can find anything else on Shax and how to stop him."

Phoebe turned and briskly walked up the stairs. "Paige," she called, "follow me."

Paige crossed in front of Piper and Prue and followed Phoebe to the attic.

"Okay, Piper, it's me and you. We can figure this out. And I think I might have an idea of what's going on here."

"I sure hope you do." Piper said sarcastically.

"Piper when you saw Shax didn't he seem…different to you?" Prue looked worried.

"What do you mean?"

"Physically speaking. We saw him from a distance. But he looked…different. I can't describe it."

"Well gee, Prue, you're on a roll here." Piper brushed her hair away from her eyes.

"Piper, I'm serious. Something is different this time, which makes sense considering he's been resurrected. After being brought back from the demonic wasteland, he couldn't still be the same, especially if he's managed to stay alive for five years down there."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the Shax we fought five years ago is different now. He may have the same powers, but he's changed in some way, which could mean that he has more powers than when we last fought him."

Piper turned away from Prue. "Haha. Great. Just great." She began to laugh.

"Piper, listen to me this is anything but – " Prue stared blankly at the floor. The hair stood up on her neck.

Piper stopped laughing and turned to Prue. "What?"

"Uh…I don't know I just felt a chill. Paige!" she called.

Piper called for Phoebe, who answered from the attic, "Alright, alright, we're coming!"

"Paige!" Prue called again, nervously. She quickly turned to face the door.

The front doors to the manor burst open and a rush of wind flooded through the foyer, knocking Piper and Prue to the ground. A rush of leaves propelled through the door, and debris filled the air as the wind swirled about the manor. Standing beneath the threshold was a woman, whom neither sister recognized. She stood still as the wind blew around her, throughout the main hall.

Prue stood up, and helped Piper. "Who the hell are you?" Piper asked sarcastically.

"You don't remember?" the woman asked gently. She stared silently for a moment at Prue and Phoebe, who managed to remain standing as the wind tried to knock them back down. "You're witches. Just like me, just like I am. The day you were famous, I saw you. I was the only one who understood you. I tried to help." She stepped forward and stared intently at Prue. "And you used your powers to throw me out. Mean witches."

"What? What day? Famous?" Piper exclaimed.

"I don't remember, I don't know what she's talking about," Prue remarked, looking from the woman to Piper. Her hair blew everywhere, into her face. She brushed it out of the way and turned to the woman, speaking over the roar of the wind, "what do you want from us?"

She stared menacingly at Prue and Piper, who continued to remain clueless as to what was going on. "I want to finish what I started," she said, raising a gun.

"Whoa!" Prue yelled, backing away. Piper did the same.

Phoebe and Paige quickly ran downstairs, and were instantly startled by the woman, who turned to point her gun at the two of them.

"Oh!" Phoebe exclaimed, "Who is she?"

"We don't know," Prue said, still staring intently at the woman. "She's here to finish what she started."

"And what would that be?" Phoebe asked nervously.

"Who cares, I'll finish it," said Paige. "Gun!" she called, reaching out for the gun to orb into her hands.

The woman smiled as Paige's call was rejected and her power was absorbed.

"What the - " Paige began, and tried once again to call for the gun. Her power was gone.

"Stupid witches," she chuckled. She lifted her gun toward Piper, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger. The bang from the gun startled all four sisters, three of whom quickly looked around for the effects.

Piper slowly lowered her head as blood began to emerge from beneath her shirt.

"Piper," Prue mumbled, as she caught Piper who fell helplessly to the floor. Prue held Piper in her arms, who began to shake from the pain.

"It's Alice Hicks. You'll remember me now," the woman said, as she disappeared in a gust of wind, closing the manor doors behind her.

"Oh god," Phoebe whispered, as she ran down the stairs. Paige followed close behind, in a state of panic.

"Piper," Prue said as she began to cry. Piper gasped for air, as Prue brought her head closer to hers. Phoebe and Paige were left speechless, and all three sisters were frozen in fear as Piper began taking what seemed to be her final breaths.

"Paige, orb us to the hospital," Phoebe suggested.

"I can't. My powers are gone."

"How are they gone?" Phoebe asked, worried.

"I don't know. But we have to get Piper to the hospital."

"I'll take her," Prue interrupted, helping Piper stand up. "You guys stay here. We need to find a way to fix this. If you see Shax, say the spell to fend him off. If you see Alice – feel free to kill her."

"How?" Paige asked.

"I don't know," Prue mumbled. "But I trust you. And Phoebe."

With a final glance, Prue led helped Piper out of the manor and into her car, and Paige and Phoebe hurried up to the attic. "You're going to be okay, Piper. Just stay with me."

Piper continued to gasp for air, as she layed down in the backseat of the vehicle. Prue quickly drove off, leaving a trail of dust in her path.

* * *

Paige paced back and forth around the attic, as Phoebe flipped quickly through the Book of Shadows.

"Will you please stop?" Phoebe asked, agitated. "You're making me paranoid."

"Well I'm sorry but I don't know what else to do," Paige said sarcastically. "I feel like this is all my fault. If I wouldn't have used my powers then I could've healed - "

"It's not your fault, Paige. You couldn't have known that your power would be taken away. Although I still have no idea how that even happened."

"Neither do I. That's why I'm worried. And it's not like we can have Leo heal Piper."

"We'll get Leo back. But right now we can't worry or even think about that. We need to focus on finding Shax, and Alice."

"And vanquishing both of their sorry asses."

"I'm not about to lose a sister again," Phoebe said as her eyes began to tear up.

"We'll be okay. No one is going to die. We just need to think this through. We'll figure it out. We always do."

"Maybe." Phoebe mumbled. She returned to the book, flipping through the pages, and Paige continued to pace.

* * *

After reaching the hospital, Prue cautiously but quickly led Piper into the emergency room, where they were greeted by a group of doctors. Without hesitation, Piper was helped onto a bed.

"How did this happen?" One of the doctors asked quickly.

"A woman," Prue started, "she shot her at our house."

The doctors wheeled Piper away into the operation room. Prue followed close behind.

As Piper continued to struggle for breath, Prue grasped her hand and held it tightly. Piper looked over to Prue, who stared her intently in the eyes.

"Piper, don't you dare die on me."


	2. Chapter 2: Long Shot

"Paige, what are we going to do?" Phoebe asked closing the Book of Shadows.

"I don't know what there is _to_ do. Besides run for the hills."

"Paige, seriously."

"I _am_ serious. I'm worried about Piper. If she's hurt, our power is diminished. Sure, we still have "the power of three," but since there's four of us, three doesn't seem right anymore."

"I agree," Phoebe said. She leaned on the book, carefully tracing the raised symbol on the cover. "I just can't focus right now. I'm worried about Piper too."

"Well, we have no choice but to get focused. We can't waste time. And right now, her life is in mortal, not magical hands. And that's what scares me the most."

"Okay, well the sooner we figure out how to get your powers back, then the sooner we can heal her," Phoebe suggested.

"Well hopefully by the time we get them back, there's still a sister to save," Paige remarked rolling her eyes.

"Well then we shouldn't give up just yet," Phoebe opened up the book again. She looked closely at the page she opened it to. "The Hollow," she mumbled. "The…Hollow," she continued to stare at the page for a few minutes. "Paige, I think I'm on to something."

"The Hollow…that can't be too good then."

"The Hollow absorbs powers, right?" Phoebe asked.

"Right."

"Okay, and your powers were absorbed by Alice."

"Right."

"So do you think there's a chance that maybe Alice had called upon the Hollow and is using its power?"

"Well, I guess it makes sense. It's kind of a long shot."

"Well," Phoebe began looking down at the book, "it's the only shot we've got."

"Even if you're right, what can we do about it? If she has the Hollow inside of her then it's too late already."

"Not exactly."

Paige gave Phoebe a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

Phoebe turned the page. "There's a spell in the book to call upon the Hollow."

"Okay, there is no way we are doing that. Phoebe, are you crazy?"

"Surprisingly, no. Paige this is the only way."

"Phoebe, we don't even know if the Hollow is what's causing all this. How are you so sure?"

"I'm not. But what else is there?"

"There has to be something else," Paige said in desperation.

Phoebe continued to look in the book. "We could travel to the underworld and visit the Guardians of the Hollow."

"The Guardians? Weren't they vanquished?" Paige was hopeful.

"Well…yes. But four years later, you'd think that there would be new Guardians. The Hollow has to be protected from both good and evil. We can go to the underworld, see if it's there. If it's gone, then we know Alice has it."

"I still say it's a long shot," Paige added. "But to save Piper, I guess we don't have a choice."

"Okay. All we need to do is make a potion to get us to the underworld."

"This should be easy," Paige said sarcastically. She grabbed the Book of Shadows and carried it to the table in the center of the attic, where she and Phoebe began mixing the potion.

* * *

Piper continued to hang on, as strongly as Prue held her hand.

"Piper, you're going to be okay," Prue said through her tears.

"Prue – I-I'm cold," Piper gasped.

Prue hovered over Piper, continuing to cry.

"I-I can't feel my legs," she continued, barely able to speak each word.

Prue looked at the doctors in desperation.

"Her heart's failing," one of them said.

"Oh no," Prue whispered.

"Prue," Piper began, "I-I lo-love you."

Piper turned her head to the side and a stared blankly up at the ceiling.

"No," Prue cried bringing her face closer to Pipers.

The doctors quickly reacted, using the shock paddles to try and revive her. Prue felt helpless, as she watched her sister, who's body jumped with each electric shock. After two unsuccessful attempts, Piper continued to lay unmoving on the bed. The doctors looked quietly at the clock, and called the time of her death. Prue's crying worsened as she hovered over Piper.

"I'm sorry for your loss," one of the doctors murmured reassuringly.

Prue looked up at the doctors, "Get out. Go!"

The doctors unquestioningly left the room, leaving Prue alone, with her lifeless sister's body. She closed Piper's eyelids, and gently touched her forehead. "I'm going to get you back," Prue whispered, staring directly at her sister. "I promise you that."

* * *

"Okay, this is the last ingredient," said Paige with a smirk on her face. "Let's hope it works."

She and Phoebe backed away from the table, and Paige tossed in the final root of the potion. In a flash, the mixture exploded into a cloud of smoke, knocking Phoebe and Paige off of their feet.

"Whoa!" Phoebe exclaimed, waving the smoke out of her face. "Is there going to be any potion left?"

"Of course," Paige said, standing up. She looked down proudly at the potion. "See what a little patience will get you?"

"Yeah, yeah let's just hurry up and get this over with."

"Okay. This potion will get us there, and back. You take one bottle, and I'll take another. We'll use one now, and one when we're ready to come back."

"Good idea." Phoebe said, clinging to her potion bottle with her life.

"Are we ready?" Paige asked looking at Phoebe doubtfully.

"As ready as we'll ever be."

Paige dropped the potion on the floor in front of herself and her sister, and both disappeared in a cloud of smoke that rose around them. They reappeared in a dark, dank setting, which could be nothing else than the infamous underworld.

"Here we are," Paige said cheerfully. She looked around the room they had materialized in. "If I'm right, this is the room that the Guardians stay in. Which means that the Hollow –

"Is none of your concern," said a voice from behind them.

Phoebe and Paige turned around in one swift motion, to face a man and a woman. The man, clad in pure white robes, stood firmly as a halo danced around the top of his head. The woman, dressed in pure black stared darkly at the sisters, as a deep red color glistened in her eyes. The two representatives of good and evil, stood before the sisters, intent on protecting what they were meant to.

"Are you the Guardians?" Phoebe asked awkwardly.

"That is correct," said the man, walking around Phoebe and Paige. "But who are you to question us?"

"We're the Charmed Ones, and that's all you need to know," snapped Paige.

The woman laughed. "How dare you come down here! This is an ancient burial ground, and more importantly sacred. No humans have ever set foot in this room."

"Well there's a first time for everything," Paige said cheerfully.

"All we need to know is if the Hollow is still here. We can leave in peace once we know." Said Phoebe.

The man had an incriminating look on his face. After studying the sisters for another few minutes, he stopped, and looked up at the sisters.

"The Hollow has remained dormant for four years. After the Source's misuse of it, we were appointed to protect it, to guard it, and we planned on doing just that."

The woman continued, "But, unbeknownst to us, the Hollow has been missing for days now. We never thought anyone would misuse it, especially after the Source was vanquished for good. But somehow, with magic escaping even our own grasps, the Hollow was awakened, and is taking more and more powers as we speak."

The man interjected, "The Hollow is consuming, and has an insatiable hunger for power. If it isn't stopped, it will destroy everything in its path. Even it's possessor."

Paige and Phoebe looked at each other for a moment.

"We may know who has the Hollow," Paige began.

"And we think we know how to get it back," Phoebe added.

"The Hollow is too powerful to be controlled by humans, especially mortals. Neither of you can be trusted to help us with our supreme duty." The woman said angrily.

"Well you don't have a choice," Phoebe began. "And neither do we. We have a sister to save." She stepped backward next to Paige, and dropped her potion bottle on the ground. A cloud of smoke rose upward once again, whisking the sisters out of the underworld.

The woman chuckled, "Witches. They'll be dead before long." The man nodded his head in agreement.

Phoebe and Paige reappeared in attic of the manor. Phoebe briskly moved toward the Book of Shadows, still opened to the page about the Hollow.

Paige stared thoughtfully out the window for a moment, as Phoebe read through the book again. "There's something strange about this that I don't think either of us have realized."

"What's that?" Phoebe asked, still looking down at the book.

"Alice is mortal."

"Okay. Yeah, we know that already."

Paige looked irritated. "I know we know that. But what I'm saying is, she's a regular person. And if that's true, how could she have possibly known that the Hollow even existed?"

"Well, she did say that she's a witch." Phoebe added.

"Phoebe, the only way we even know that the Hollow exists is because of our one-of-a-kind spell book, and because the Source tried to kill us with it. How would a non-magical witch like Alice know about the Hollow, or even fathom the power that the Hollow is capable of?"

"I don't know Paige. You have a point. But we have to remember that we're trying to save Piper too. We can't waste time here." Phoebe looked worried.

"I know, I know. So, should we just…call the Hollow?"

"I don't know," Phoebe began hesitantly, "Have you even thought about how we're going to get the Hollow out of us once we call it?"

"We don't have time to think that through," Paige said. "We just need to do it. Once we get our powers back, along with all the other powers of the Hollow, we can hopefully weaken Alice, and use her to help us retain it. If we can get her to say the incantation with us, then we can contain the Hollow again."

"Another long shot," said Phoebe worried.

"Well, it's our only chance of saving Piper. Once we get the Hollow, we can get my powers back, save Piper, and go from there. If we want to save Piper, this is the only thing we can do."

"You're right." Phoebe said, motioning for Paige to stand next to her and the book. "Let's do it."


	3. Chapter 3: The Ring

Prue sat quietly next to Piper's body, thinking through every possible solution to this deadly situation. She couldn't leave her sister now, alone and abandoned, although, she felt as though Piper was the one that had abandoned her. She stood up and crossed the room, where she dimmed the lights. She returned to her sisters side, once again holding her had, hoping for any sign of comfort to be returned. Piper continued to lay motionless, and Prue remained still as well. Feeling overwhelmed by the situation, Prue closed her eyes, dropping her head.

A swirling sensation surrounded her, as she removed herself from the hospital room, and her astral body appeared in the manor next to Phoebe and Paige.

"Prue!" Paige exclaimed overwhelmed. "Thank god. Piper – how is she?" Phoebe looked incriminatingly at Prue as well.

"Piper," she began to tear up, "Piper's…"

"What? Prue what's wrong? Is she okay?" Phoebe asked.

Prue remained silent, as she stared directly into her sisters eyes. "No Phoebe," she started, "Piper's dead."

Paige stepped forward toward Prue, "She's – she…when did this happen?"

"About ten minutes ago." Prue felt numb as she spoke the words.

"Oh my god." Phoebe looked at Prue angrily, "Prue, why didn't you come to us before?"

"What difference does it make, Phoebe? She's gone. And we have to fix it. We have to fix it _now_."

Paige turned to the book. "We have a way," she began, "we have to call the Hollow."

"The Hollow?" Prue looked confused.

"It doesn't matter," Phoebe said. "If Piper's already dead, it won't matter if you have your powers, Paige. You can't heal the dead."

The sisters exchanged looks. Their power was not just diminished, but gone completely.

Paige tried once again to remain optimistic. "There has to be a way to fix this. We still need the Hollow to use against Alice. But to save Piper…what can we do -"

"Oh my god," Phoebe began, her face brightening, "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Coop! His ring! We can use it. He used it to show me my past loves."

"Do you think we can use it to save Piper?" Prue asked.

"I don't see why not. This can't be the way this is supposed to end. If the ring allowed us to travel back in time, we can use it to go back and change the events of Piper's death."

The sisters exchanged looks once again.

"Call him," Paige commanded.

Phoebe looked upward at the ceiling hopefully. "Coop! I need you. _We_ need you."

The sisters waited silently, as a beam of red light appeared in the center of the attic. Coop was revealed from behind the light, with the same gentle smile he always wore. Phoebe approached him.

"Coop, we need your help."

"Why, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Piper."

Coop stared intently at Phoebe, who looked up at him solemnly.

"She's dead."

Coop remained silent for a moment. "Oh my god."

"But we don't have time to worry about it. We can change it. But we need you. We need your ring."

"My ring, but -"

"Just hand it over," said Phoebe reaching her hand out. Coop removed his ring and placed it in her hand. "Okay, how do you use it? How does it work?" Phoebe asked as she placed the ring on her right hand.

"Well," Coop began hesitantly, "you just think about the person, and how much you love them. The ring does the rest."

Paige stepped forward. "Okay, sounds easy enough."

"That's just the thing," Coop interjected. "You can't use your mind. Love isn't rational, or tangible. You have to follow your heart."

"Okay, well with three of us here I think we can go back to where we need to go." Phoebe stated.

Prue turned to Phoebe, "No, it's okay. I'll stay behind. With Piper."

"Are you sure?" Phoebe asked. She didn't want to feel as though another sister was lost.

"Yeah, it's fine. One of us should stay in the present anyway, just in case."

Paige nodded her head in agreement. "Okay. I'll go with Phoebe."

Coop looked concerned. "Just be careful."

"For all of us," Prue added. After a final look at her sisters, she closed her eyes and dropped her head, allowing her astral body to disappear.

"Wait, what about the Hollow?" Paige asked.

Phoebe thought for a moment to herself. "We can use the spell to call for the Hollow once we go back in time. Then we can get the Hollow, and use it to stop Alice."

"What about Shax? He's still lurking around somewhere."

"We'll deal with him later. If we get the Hollow before Shax attacks, we don't have to worry. We can get him to use his powers on us, so that we can use them against him with the power of the Hollow."

Paige ripped the spell to call the Hollow out of the book, folded it, and placed it in her pocket. "I think we're ready."

"Okay, let's fix this mess." Phoebe said as she held Paige's hand.

The faced each other, as they stood next to the Book of Shadows, and together spoke Piper's name. The same light that had brought Coop to them whisked them back in time, as they focused on their want for a better present, and their love for a fallen sister.


End file.
